open carry

In 2016, the state of police-community relations fluctuated with each deadly encounter between law enforcement and civilians across the country. Texas had one of the most high-profile events of the year, when a gunman opened fire in July on Dallas officers as a Black Lives Matter protest wrapped. The year was also marked by efforts to reform the state's criminal justice system, particularly jail conditions.

With the Texas open carry law in effect, visitors at this year’s South by Southwest festival could see more guns in public.

For the third year in a row, guns rights activists are planning to take to the streets at SXSW, openly displaying their firearms. Before this year, they could only legally carry long guns like rifles and shotguns. But Texas' open carry law, which went into effect in January, allows license holders to visibly wear a wide range of firearms, as long as they’re in a holster.

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It's stocked with the latest pistols, shotguns and AR-15 military-style rifles. Chuck Payne, the store's manager, says he has sold to a lot more women recently.

"A lot of married ladies with their husbands, some without, but they've decided that their husband's not home, they need to be able to do something and they need a different gun than what their husband had," Payne says.

It’s been a few weeks since the open carry law took effect in Texas. But many women still prefer to keep their guns concealed – and there is a growing accessory industry to feed their gun fashion needs.

In the wake of President Obama's efforts to take on gun violence, the head of the group Open Carry Texas told KERA News that the president "wants to make sure that more kids die by refusing to allow us to carry on the schools to protect our own kids."

We’ve heard about open carry, the new law now in effect in Texas. It allows license holders to openly carry guns. Later this year, another gun law called campus carry goes into effect. Guns must be concealed at colleges. Campuses are trying to figure out how the new law will work.

A group made up of professors, and a few others, rallied behind their common goal of a gun-free UT on Monday at the University of Texas at Austin. This pushback against a state campus carry law passed last session has been building for months. The new law is set to take effect next year.

The protesters' message was loud and clear: ban guns or we could sue. Law professor Ken Williams from South Texas College of Law in Houston says their main claim will center around how universities will ensure a safe environment for both students and faculty.

Earlier this year Texas lawmakers passed a law allowing licensed gun owners to bring concealed weapons into university buildings and classrooms. The so-called “campus carry” law takes effect August 1, 2016, for public universities and in 2017 for community colleges.

Daniel Hamermesh started teaching at the University of Texas at Austin in 1993 and retired last year, but he was scheduled to teach another introductory economics class as professor emeritus. Instead, he’s quitting early because of the new gun law.

Starting in January, you can legally carry handguns in public in Texas. And later next year, you can have concealed handguns on state university campuses. There are still a few strictly gun-free zones, like hospitals. Some Second Amendment advocates are trying to change that.

After turning back last-minute attempts to let city voters opt out, the Texas House gave final approval Monday to legislation allowing gun owners with concealed weapons licenses to carry their side arms openly.

A day after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick came close to declaring legislation permitting the open carry of handguns dead on arrival, a deluge of angry calls and comments from gun rights activists appears to have resurrected it.

An armed rally to protest gun laws saw about a dozen Second Amendment supporters toting rifles and antique revolvers in front of the Capitol gates throughout most of the 2015 legislative session's opening day.